Sorry for the wait, I got caught up in uni work and a virtual horse game. Next chapter will be done soon hopefully. I haven't give up on this story yet, don't worry.
As soon as the ground fell out from beneath them, Felix swooped to catch the falling unicorn as her fur changed back to black. Rainbow Dash glanced at the size of the hole, then her wings, before shaking her head sadly. There was simply no way that she'd be able to fit down there without her wings scraping against the sides of the hole.
"Sorry guys!" she called down apologetically. "We'll go get help!"
"Oh no you don't." The three of them looked to the source of the voice, and Calhoun thrashed violently as the green flames came up and licked away the changeling's regal disguise. Her horn glowed green, but Felix was quick to fly out of the way of the green volt that the changeling fired at them. Calhoun's shot missed by mere inches, and she cursed so colourfully that Felix blushed right up to the tips of his ears. The changeling's shot, meanwhile, caught Rainbow, who ended up stuck to one of the strange lollipop trees by changeling gunk.
"Go without me!" she urged at Felix's widened eyes. "I'll be okay until you get back."
As Felix flew away with Calhoun, the unicorn mumbled to herself. He caught some of it.
"Regal bloodline," she murmured. "They're the only ones that grow to adolescence. Probably a prince. No wonder he decided to be the darn king. And the way that kid reacted to his voice, the things she's afraid of, I don't think that other pony will be okay at all." Felix gulped and chose to engage in conversation- he had to do something to pass the time, and he did want to get closer to this mare.
"What do you mean by all that?" he asked, somehow managing to not sound like he was struggling to hold her up and not look down.
"All what?" she asked, looking up. Felix looked into her eyes, saw the ground, gulped, and looked back up.
"So, Calhoun," he said, unable to still the tremor in his voice or his legs. "How do you know that the changeling's an adolescent?"
"Ah. Well, he was bigger than the average changeling- taller, carapace was thicker, wings were larger," she rattled off. "See, the average changeling, the worker caste, they're smaller. Around the size of your average pony. But he's around the size of a young alicorn."
"And what did you mean when you were talking about how Rainbow won't be okay?" Felix wondered. Calhoun chewed on her lip for a moment before answering, as though it hurt to say it. Or maybe she was trying to find a way to explain it that wouldn't make him freeze up and drop her.
"When he appeared and she heard his voice, she looked like a young filly who'd misbehaved- been caught breaking their daddy's best records or something. No, that doesn't quite fit it. Like… like a foal caught in a bullpen," she finally summed up. "She was afraid she'd get hurt. She was absolutely terrified, Felix. I don't know what he's done to her but I can imagine. You saw her wings, right?"
"Yes," he replied, not trusting himself to nod, and then he gasped and paled. "Oh, sweet Celestia, he did that?"
"Yep. Or at least, there's a damn good chance he did," Calhoun confirmed. "Probably tortured her, too. Broke her horn so she couldn't get in touch with her magic until it grew back, kept her chained up in a dungeon where he'd visit her every so often for personal time with the k- but I shouldn't be telling you this. You might pass out and I do not wanna go out in a smear on the ground."
"Oh, that's horrible," Felix moaned. "The poor little kid! And I left her there."
"She's got Ralph," Calhoun reminded him. "It doesn't matter how strong that changeling is, Ralph'd still be able to squish him like the bug he is if he wanted to. And I'm sure that he wants nothing more."
"And they've got Twilight there too- she's the Element of Magic," Felix remembered, cheering up somewhat.
"That's the spirit," Calhoun smiled. "Now, I'll tell you where to fly so we can get to my base and get my forces. We're gonna rid that sweet little town of those vermin and give Vanellope back her throne."
"Probably Ralph's throne too," Felix suggested.
"More than likely," Calhoun agreed. They flew on, headed towards a neat little town populated by unicorns whose only desire was to kill every changeling they came across.
Vanellope managed to open her wings to slow her descent, and Twilight threw a levitation field over herself and Ralph, so the three landed gently on the ground hooves-first rather than crashing in a heap of splintering bones and crunching hooves and- Vanellope hid her head in Ralph's neck, trying desperately to get her breathing under control.
"Well well well," said a griffin, walking out of a tunnel. "Look who decided to come home. And you brought friends. How nice. Maybe they'll be able to convince you to stay."
"Yeah," his brother laughed, joining him as they circled around the trio. "Their screams of pain will be incentive enough to make her reconsider breaking out again."
"Don't you threaten them!" Vanellope growled, tearing herself away from Ralph to glare at her captors. They'd been her law-enforcement once. But then they'd turned on her just like everyone else. "That's Princess Celestia's personal student, and this earth pony is strong enough to beat a Hydra single-hoofedly." She snorted, glaring down one of the griffins. She got a faceful of claws and a magic-suppressant ring for her declaration. When Ralph made to buck one of them, the other griffin raked claws down his side before jabbing him with a needle to render him unconscious.
Twilight was only able to fire off one spell before she, too, had her magic blocked off, but hopefully it would be enough.
Vanellope was placed back in her old cell and shackled to the wall before being told to wait for the king to arrive. She waited by the far wall with her wings outspread, determined not to get them ruined again. Blue sparks of her magic occasionally coloured the ring around her horn, while her chest bled from her punishment for attempting to neuter a griffin with her horn. It had been worth it, though. She smirked as she remembered his undignified yelp.
The door to her cell abruptly opened and the princess got to her hooves, ignoring the pain as the movement reopened the wound that had just been starting to scab over.
"Vanellope," the false king chimed happily as he trotted into her cell. The door slammed behind him, but she would not let it frighten her as it once used to. Ralph was right on the other side of the wall, and he was a big guy. A tranquilizer would not keep him down for long.
"Changeling," she replied, spitting the horrible-tasting word out of her mouth. "Monster."
The changeling trotted towards her, shedding his disguise as he went. He laughed at her boldness.
"Trying to be strong again? My, little Vanellope, did you forget who broke your wings like twigs? Who visited you and had fun with you every. Single. Night?" He grinned at her, fangs gleaming. Vanellope couldn't suppress a small shudder.
"I'm older now, Turbo," Vanellope retorted, using his real name that she'd learned during just one of those nightly sessions. "Stronger. And I have friends. They'll help me." She glared at him. Sparks danced fitfully along her horn.
"Good," the changeling said, and laughed. "They'll be able to listen to your screams as I take you as mine. Tear you apart, put you back together, and do it all over again. How does that sound?" He leered at her. She spat in his face. He hissed and raised a hoof to strike her…
And the wall shuddered as two very strong hooves bucked against it. It was just enough to stall Turbo so that Vanellope could push him out of the way with her own forehooves. She glared at him as her horn glowed fitfully. The thudding sounds kept coming at the wall. Well, she hoped it was the wall and not her own heartbeat.
"You cannot break the magical suppression, silly girl," Turbo grinned maliciously.
"You underestimate my power, Turbo," the princess replied. The ring around her horn suddenly let off a sharp spark, causing her to crumble. She looked up at him as he stood above her. If only she could jab her horn up, piercing the carapace and splattering the ground with his blood, but even thinking hurt her head.
And then the wall finally gave way and four strong hooves impacted with the changeling's side, sending him flying. He hit the opposite wall with a crack that made Vanellope wince.
"Kid!" Ralph called.
Vanellope made to levitate away the part of wall covering her, but yelped as fresh pain pulsed through her head. She glanced up but couldn't see her horn. Then again, unicorns never could, so why should an alicorn be able to?
All of a sudden, the wall was lifted off her and she was looking up at the earth pony she'd fallen in love with.
"Ralph," she said softly, and then repeated it louder when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.
Turbo had healed his wounds with green fire as soon as Ralph had been distracted. Now, he pounced, impacting with Ralph but not knocking him over. He sank fangs into Ralph, making it clear that he'd meant to do that.
"You brute," he snarled. "You really thought that an earth pony could defeat me? Seriously? A fucking EARTH PONY, the weakest of all the pony races."
"Wow, you really don't know much about the pony races," Vanellope snorted, effectively drawing his attention away from the larger pony. "Earth ponies are the strongest, second only to alicorns. And this guy-" she gestured to Ralph- "is the strongest of them all. He knocked down a wall meant to hold the biggest creatures in the Everfree. I'd be scared if I were you."